Saugatuck grad helped make documentary to be shown at Waterfront Film Festival

Thursday

Jun 12, 2014 at 8:00 PMJun 13, 2014 at 12:54 PM

By Jim.Hayden@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4274

Alyssa Masters always wanted to have an entry in the Waterfront Film Festival. The 2009 Saugatuck High School graduate has reached that goal with the premiere of a documentary about two former gang leaders who steer youths away from violence and life on the street.“I’m excited,” she said Thursday afternoon, a day before the 17-minute film “Peace During War” debuts at the festival in South Haven. “It’s something I always wanted to do, to get in the festival.”The film shows at 2 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturday at South Haven High School’s Listiak Auditorium, 600 Elkenberg St. There will also be a discussion panel after one of the screenings.The film precedes the Michigan premiere of “Fight Church.”“Peace During War” was produced and directed by Jennifer Machiorlatti, Western Michigan University professor of communication in the film, video and media studies program. The film profiles the lives of Yafinceio Harris and Michael Wilder, who were once on opposite sides of a deadly street feud. After encountering one another in a community college classroom, they turned their lives around and co-founded Peace During War, a Kalamazoo-based youth mentoring program that diverts youths from paths leading to prison or death.“I heard this fascinating interview with these two men who had been gang rivals and thought it would make a great documentary,” Machiorlatti said. She was contacted by Sam Bailey, a WMU graduate, about filming their story. With the help of Bailey and Bill Reed, of the Forum of Greater Kalamazoo, Harris and Wilder obtained funding from the Fetzer Institute to start their organization, create a website and make the documentary.Machiorlatti began shooting the film in summer 2012 and hired several students as crew members.Masters, who graduated from WMU in 2013, was the project’s lead editor and put together the final product. She continued to work on it after graduation and helped shoot some of the footage.Masters is proud of how it turned out.“I was kind of intimidated at first, but I think it turned out way better than I expected. I'm really happy with the end result,” she said, praising the work of Machiorlatti.She’s hoping to expand the documentary and show it to more audiences.Masters, a Douglas native, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in film video and media studies and a double minor in art and Japanese. She now lives in Saginaw and works as a freelance video editor.“I’m hoping the experience will help me get a job in the profession,” she said.The Waterfront Film Festival runs through Sunday. For more information, visit waterfrontfilm.org.— Follow Jim Hayden on Twitter@SentinelJim.